Reconstruction: new amendments, new rights and why they were taken away

Grade 8 Social Studies Worksheet - Building Confidence

Circle the best answer.

1. Read this first

   Use this

   Three amendments, 1865 to 1870 (cards A to E). Card A, the 13th Amendment, sections 1 and 2, as printed on the National Archives page: "Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction." "Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation." A summary in our words from the National Archives: the Emancipation Proclamation of 1863 applied only to areas in rebellion, not even to the loyal border states, so Lincoln saw that an amendment was needed. The Senate passed the amendment in April 1864. The House did not at first, then passed it in January 1865 by a vote of 119 to 56. It was ratified on December 6, 1865. Card B, the 14th Amendment, as printed on the National Archives page: "All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside." "No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws." Section 5: "The Congress shall have power to enforce, by appropriate legislation, the provisions of this article." A summary in our words from the same page: Congress passed it on June 13, 1866, and it was ratified on July 9, 1868. Elsewhere the page says that on July 28, 1868, a certificate of the Secretary of State declared it ratified by the necessary 28 of the 37 states. The page also says the amendment "failed to protect the rights of Black citizens" during Reconstruction. Card C, the 15th Amendment, as printed in the resolution of December 7, 1868 (National Archives): "(two-thirds of both Houses concurring)" ... "when ratified by three-fourths of said legislatures shall be valid as part of the Constitution". Section 1: "The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude—". Section 2: "The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation." A summary in our words from the same page: Congress passed it on February 26, 1869, and it was ratified on February 3, 1870. It granted African American men the right to vote. Card D, a summary in our words from the National Archives: African Americans voted and held office in many Southern states through the 1880s. In the early 1890s, literacy tests, "grandfather clauses" and other devices that kept African Americans from voting were written into the laws of former Confederate states. For more than 50 years most African American citizens lived under "Jim Crow" segregation. Congress passed the Voting Rights Act in 1965. Card E, a summary in our words from the National Park Service: the Emancipation Proclamation of January 1, 1863 changed the status of 3.5 million enslaved African Americans in Confederate territories to free, but left the status of another 500,000 enslaved people in the Border States unaddressed. The Park Service adds that the three amendments outlined basic civil rights but that at the time they were "more aspirational than a concrete reality".

2. 1.

   Cards A to C print the amendments; card D is National Archives commentary. What is the amendment text best evidence for, Ari asks?

   • What each amendment required, in the words Congress wrote
   • Why the Senate voted as it did in April 1864
   • What most Americans believed about the amendments in 1865
   • How the amendments were enforced in the South in the 1890s
3. 2.

   A student writes: "The 13th Amendment ended all forced labor in the United States." How strong is that claim, given card A, Bo asks?

   • Strong: three-fourths of the states ratified the text of card A
   • Weak: card A keeps an exception for punishment after conviction of a crime
   • Weak: card A freed just the people held in the border states in 1865
   • Strong: card A bans slavery and involuntary servitude everywhere in the nation
4. 3.

   Card A: the House voted 119 to 56. Card C: two-thirds of both houses must agree. What share said yes, and how does it compare, Jun asks?

   • About 32 percent, far below two-thirds
   • About 68 percent, a wide margin above two-thirds
   • About 68 percent, and a simple majority would have been enough to pass it
   • About 68 percent, just above two-thirds (about 67 percent)
5. 4.

   Card B says 28 of the 37 states ratified. Card C says three-fourths of the legislatures are needed. What does the count show, Kira asks?

   • 27 states, about 73 percent, would have been enough to ratify it
   • 28 was the smallest whole number of states that reached three-fourths
   • 28 states was far above what was needed to reach three-fourths
   • 28 of 37 is about 28 percent, so a small share of the states ratified the amendment
6. 5.

   Card B gives two July 1868 dates for the 14th Amendment, July 9 and July 28. What is the best way to read them, Luz asks?

   • Throw out card B, because the page contradicts itself about the date and so cannot be used
   • As proof that the 14th Amendment was ratified twice, a month apart
   • As two steps: ratification on July 9, then the Secretary of State's certificate on July 28
   • As a typo, because the page really means July 9 on both occasions
7. 6.

   A student says: "The 14th Amendment only limited what the federal government could do." Which words in card B test that claim, Milo asks?

   • The ratification dates show the states agreed to be limited by the text
   • "Citizens of the United States" shows that national law alone is meant here
   • Section 5 gives power to Congress, so Congress is the body that the text binds in practice
   • "No State shall make or enforce any law" names the states, so the claim is weak
8. 7.

   Cards A to C are dated 1865, 1868 and 1870. Put in order, what does each amendment add, Noah asks?

   • Each amendment gave the vote to a new group of Americans, one amendment after another
   • The vote is protected first; then slavery ends; then citizenship is defined
   • Slavery ends; then citizenship binds the states; then the vote is protected
   • The three amendments each ended slavery again, one region at a time, until it was gone
9. 8.

   Cards A, B and C each end with an enforcement line. What do the three lines show together, Pia asks?

   • Each names Congress as the body with power to pass laws enforcing it
   • Each gave the courts the sole power to enforce it, with no role for Congress
   • The rights enforced themselves once the states had ratified each amendment
   • Each gave the states the power to enforce it in their own territory
10. 9.

    A student says: "The 15th Amendment ended every barrier to Black men voting for good." How strong is that claim, given cards C and D, Ren asks?

    • Weak: card D shows literacy tests and similar devices became law in the 1890s
    • Weak: card C limits Congress alone and does not bind any state governments
    • Strong: card D says African Americans voted and held office through the 1880s
    • Strong: card C bans denying the vote on account of race, color or servitude
11. 10.

    Card E: 3.5 million enslaved people lived in Confederate territories and 500,000 in the Border States. About what share did the Proclamation leave unaddressed, Tala asks?

    • Zero, because card A says it covered the border states too
    • About 1.25 percent, a tiny share
    • About 14 percent, found by dividing 500,000 by 3.5 million
    • About 12.5 percent, or one in eight